In a keynote speech Friday night marking the third anniversary of that war’s end, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah outlined his strategy for Lebanon to deter Israel from launching another offensive. Responding to Israeli threats to flatten southern Lebanese villages and infrastructure, he vowed to attack Tel Aviv if Israel targeted Beirut or its southern suburbs, where Hezbollah’s headquarters are.

“We are now capable of attacking any city or village throughout Israel,” he said, dismissing recent Israeli threats against Hezbollah as psychological warfare. “When Israelis talk a lot, it means that they will do nothing. However, when they are silent like a snake we have to be cautious.” Nasrallah’s comments, delivered via a live video feed to a crowd of flag-waving supporters and invited politicians, were the latest in a month-long barrage of threats from both sides of the Lebanon-Israel border.

The saber-rattling, touched off in mid-July by explosions near an alleged Hezbollah weapons cache here in the hills of south Lebanon, seems driven more by a fear that the other side will take action, than a desire to launch a fresh round of fighting, say analysts and United Nations peacekeepers here.

“Contrary to the talk, the situation on the ground in our area of operations is generally quiet,” says Milos Strugar, senior advisor to the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, which patrols the southern Lebanon border district. “In our contacts with all the parties, they reiterate to us their interest in upholding the cessation of hostilities.”

Israel, Hezbollah threaten war – again

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan says North Korea will be breaking international law if it launches a long-range rocket – regardless of what is on board.

He says any North Korean launch, whether it is a missile or a satellite, will be brought to the United Nations Security Council for a possible response.

North Korea informed international agencies Thursday of launch coordinates for when Pyongyang says it will put a “communications satellite” into space sometime between April 4 and 8.

Leaders in South Korea, the United States, and Japan suspect the real motive for the launch is to test a long-range missile. They say any launch will violate a United Nations resolution imposed in 2006, after North Korea conducted long range missile and nuclear weapons tests within months of each other.

U.N. agencies have advised aircraft and sea vessels of two “danger zones” in waters northeast of North Korea, where stages of the rocket will fall at high speeds back to earth.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura says his country is ready to defend itself if the missile comes too close.

He says Japanese law and national security policy permit the shooting down of any object that looks like it might land on Japanese territory.

The United States has two Aegis naval Destroyers docked in South Korea for annual joint exercises with the South’s forces scheduled to end next week. Choi Kee-dong, the Korean-American commander of the USS Chafee, says ships like his are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. He says he will execute whatever course of action U.S. policymakers decide upon.

“The U.S. Navy is always prepared to respond in a crisis, and we will do our utmost to make sure that we carry out our mission,” he said.

North Korea says it will consider any attempt to shoot down its missile an act of war.

Pyongyang protested the South’s annual military cooperation with the United States Friday by sealing its border to the South for the second time this week. Hundreds of South Koreans were stranded at a joint industrial park in the North Korean city of Kaesong. Hundreds of other South Koreans were unable to complete travel plans to Kaesong as scheduled.

Japan, South Korea Warn North’s Launch Will Have Consequences

Dangerous maneuvers at sea

But Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman says the Chinese ships surrounded the American ship and maneuvered aggressively and dangerously.

“This was a reckless and dangerous maneuver that was unprofessional and that violates the international law [requirement] to operate with due regard for the rights and safety of other users of the ocean,” Whitman said.
A news release says two of the Chinese ships stopped directly in front of the USNS Impeccable, forcing it to make an emergency stop. The release says U.S. crew members sprayed water from a fire hose at one of the Chinese ships, and the U.S. ship radioed the Chinese asking for a safe path out of the area.

US says Impeccable is research vessel

Bryan Whitman says the Impeccable is a research vessel, which carries no significant weapons. According to the U.S. Navy, the ship is 84 meters long and 25 meters wide, and half its 50 crew members are civilians. Whitman says the ship was conducting routine “ocean surveillance” in international waters 120 kilometers south of China’s Hainan Island when the Chinese ships approached aggressively, one to within eight meters.
“These are dangerously close maneuvers that these vessels did,” Whitman noted. “They also dropped pieces of wood in the water directly in front of the Impeccable’s path. They also used poles in an attempt to snag the Impeccable’s towed acoustical array.”

The towed array is a piece of sonar equipment.

Some Chinese crew members undressed down to underwear

Whitman said some of the Chinese crew members undressed down to their underwear in an apparent show of disrespect, what Whitman called an “immature” display. But he said the close maneuvering and attempts to disrupt the U.S. ship’s progress were serious.

“This is not the first time that there has been some provocative maneuvering, but I think this is one of the most aggressive incidents that we have seen in some time,” Whitman said.

The official release says Chinese ships and aircraft have engaged in “increasingly aggressive conduct” toward U.S. Navy ships in recent days. It cites three previous incidents, two of them involving the same American ship, in which Chinese ships, including a navy frigate, approached at close range, shined lights and verbally harassed U.S. ships by radio. In another incident, a Chinese aircraft flew at low altitude alongside the Impeccable 11 times.

China Accuses US Ship of Violating Chinese, International Law

The history of private military companies started on June 24, 1997, when experts of the US Intelligence Department proclaimed the PMCs as a major tool in the implementation of the military security policy of the United States and its allies in other countries.

The professional level of a private military company is its major advantage. Inexperienced military men are not welcome there. A PMC member is usually a man between 35-40 years of age. A human being of this age is resistant to stresses and emergency situations. In addition, a man of this age can also do routine work very well, which can not be said about younger men.

Potential fighters of the private military companies possess the required level of experience and have an adequate insight, which allows such units to achieve better results in their activities in comparison with regular armies.

A private military company can be very efficient in local conflicts, where the use of regular armies can be complicated for legal reasons. For example, Russia can not send its troops to Nigeria if Nigerian gunmen attack employees of Russian companies – it would be a gross violation of international laws.

Russian PMCs – Tiger Top Rent Security and Orel Antiterror – do not lag behind their US or British colleagues. The only difference is that Russian PMC fighters are paid a lot less.

Russian PMCs took part in the military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Lebanon and Palestine.

Russia’s largest companies such as Russian Aluminium (Rusal), Lukoil, Rosneft and Gazprom received a carte blanche to form military structures to protect their interests both inside and outside Russia.

Private military companies supply bodyguards for the Afghan president and pilot armed reconnaissance planes and helicopter gunships to destroy Coca crops in Colombia. They are licensed by the State Department; they are contracting with foreign governments, training soldiers and reorganizing militaries in Nigeria, Bulgaria, Taiwan, and Equatorial Guinea. The PMC industry is now worth over $100 billion a year.

Private military companies to supersede regular armies

ndia has become one of the largest arms importers during the recent years due to the nation’s complicated relations with Pakistan. A third Indo-Pakistan war may break out at any moment. Foreign companies get ready to fight for the Indian billions. France’s Rafale, Europe’s Eurofighter, Sweden’s Gripen and USA’s F-16 and F-18 will be a serious competition for Russia.

Russia’s Sukhoi already conducts cooperation with India : the nation launched the licensed production of Su-30MKI fighters in 2004. However, Russia has another trump card to win a possible contract – the MiG-35 fighter, which will be unveiled at Aero India 2009 air show.

MiG-35 is outfitted with aviation electronics of new generation, including a powerful radar. The aircraft also has optoelectronic systems to fight air and ground targets, a powerful defense complex and latest airborne weapons.

“MiG-35 is virtually a new modification of the old fighter, but it is quite competitive. Its low price and technical advantages leave Western rivals behind,” Konstantin Sivkov of the Academy for Geopolitical Problems told Pravda.ru. “It would also be better for India to buy this fighter for compatibility reasons. The political aspect and the foreign orientation of the political leadership play the most important role on the market of arms. The future tender will test the political orientation of India ,” the expert said.

Russia has all chances to sign the contract with India at this point. The two countries have been maintaining friendly relations with each other for many years. One should not forget the ties between Russia’s MiG Corporation and its Indian partners either. MiG fighters originally appeared in India in 1963, whereas MiG-21 used to be the basic aircraft of the Indian Air Force for years.

The cooperation continues today as well. India’s navy receives the MiG-29K/KUB carrier fighter on a regular basis. The personnel of the Indian Air Force undergoes the technical training in Russia . To crown it all, MiG modernizes India’s MiG fighters and supplies them with necessary spare parts.

Russia’s MiG-35 fighter to win billion-dollar contract and leave US rivals behind